Recent scams show the existence of a sophisticated, determined, innovative and well organized crime underworld. Fraudsters are more adaptive than ever, modifying their modus operandi and techniques quickly to exploit new vulnerabilities. While the fraudsters do not limit themselves to a specific sector, their focus tends to be on sectors including banking and financial accounts, government services, ISPs, telecom companies and healthcare and many others.
Reports about identity takeover, filled with phrases like Trojan, Man in the Middle, Man in the Browser, and Phishing, are increasingly in the news. However, the threats are not always so sophisticated. For example, a pretty significant percentage of all fraudulent activity simply involves fraudsters calling an unsuspecting member of the public pretending to be someone they are not. One common scam involves a fraudster pretending to be an IRS representative threatening heavy fines and jail time if the targeted person doesn't perform a certain act as suggested by the fraudster.
Unfortunately, although the above scams are crude and simple in their approach, they are also very effective due to the fact that the caller identification (ID) value is often spoofed. The spoofed ID gives the target of the scam a false sense of security as they believe the caller is who they say they are. The targets of these scams are often elderly and vulnerable persons and the impact can be devastating to these persons. There is, therefore, a need to address this problem.